Downton Abbey Costume Recap: Season 6, Episode 9

We here at Frock Flicks (okay, Kendra and Trystan) are so excited for the final season of Downton Abbey that we’re doing weekly costume recaps AND podcasts! Tune in each week for an episode-by-episode recap of our thoughts on both the plot and (especially) the costumes (designed by Anna Robbins) — because really, while we all are invested in the lives of the fictional Crawley family, don’t we actually keep coming back to see what they’re wearing? You can find the podcast at the bottom of this post, or on iTunes!

Well here it is, the finale after six series — let’s tie up all those loose ends with some vintage moire satin bows, shall we? This episode was SO LONG that unfortunately we’re pretty much only focused on the ladies here, image-wise. Sorry boys!

Donk takes the whole family for a walk:

Grandkids in cute outfits and HAPPY PUPPY.

The whole family is a sea of beige, except for shocking red Edith! Gee, I wonder who is going to be the focus of this episode?

Isobel is in one of her standards, Mary’s got a parasol, Donk is tweedy brown, Henry is paler brown, Cora is brown lace. Meanwhile, Edith’s got red, and ruffles, and velvet leaves on her hip, and a red flower in her hair!

Mary’s in one of her ivory blouses, but this is SO much better than usual. Love the tied overshirt, all the detail, and the short sleeves — for once she doesn’t look like a grandmother.

Isobel visits Violet to worry about Lord Merton:

Isobel’s outfit is one we’ve seen a lot of this season, but again we note all the nice details — trim on the neckline, buttons on the hips, and that is a great ribbon on the hat.

Violet is in a beige ‘Mary’ blouse with a brown fringe-y shawl.

Back at the Abbey and downstairs:

Anna is as big as a house and in a black maternity dress! We seriously question that she’d be allowed to work this late into her pregnancy.

Outside on the lawn, the family is having cocktails (we can’t remember, was this a special occasion?).

Cora is in silver and mauve, all the gents look sharp in tuxes, and PUPPY.

Edith is in gold with lots of great detail in the fabric.

At dinner:

Isobel’s dress is subtle but that’s a great print on her bodice.

Cora’s lace is another subtle pattern.

A bit more of the detail on Edith’s gold fabric.

Mary’s in a paler gold. Are we the only ones who think “Crown of Thorns” when we see her bandeau? Sorry, Mary, it’s going to take a lot more to make up for blowing up Edith’s life. AGAIN.

Edith goes to visit Granny before heading to London; later Mary comes to visit:

Yet another subtle print, paired with a light blue jacket. The neck scarf that pulls through the dress is a nice touch.

Mary – shockingly chic for daywear! If she could have just done this all the time!

Over at Lord Merton’s house, Isobel finds out that he has a really bad kind of anemia that will kill him soon:

Merton LURVES this suit. Isobel LURVES this hat. At least it’s a different dress!

In London:

Here’s Edith’s dress without the jacket. Cute! We like the pinkish tone to it, which pairs well with the stronger pink ribbon on the hat.

Back at the Abbey, Mary has ordered a new-fangled hair dryer!

And in London, Edith thinks she’s going out to dinner with Rosamund, but Rosamund and Mary have plotted to get her together with Bertie, who is all “I NEED YOU.” This is a nice gesture, but we think Mary should also have to lick Edith’s shoes clean for a year.

LOVE that back cut out. It looks like there are solid green panels on the side of the dress, with the copper lace only down the center front and back? Costume designer Anna Robbins has commented that she often extends the use of vintage textiles by adding panels and slips in this fashion.

Rosamund is in an elegant black with silver beading.

THAT FABRIC. AMAZE-BALLS. But really, one dinner is all it takes to get her and Bertie back together? Did no-one try that before?

Back at the Abbey:

Yet another black servant dress with nice subtle details.

Over at the Dower House:

Violet is in blue with embroidered trim.

Isobel is in khaki with that great black-and-white hat ribbon.

Edith, Cora, and Robert are off to visit Bertie! True Wuv is back in business!

DONK LOVES HIS PUPPY. And, Mary is in another less-fugly blouse — warm beige silk charmeuse with a lace collar and toggles.

Cora is in black and white with an orange jacket.

BERTIE’S CASTLE BEATS ALL THE CASTLES. We were cackling SO HARD!

Inside, we’re all dressed up for dinner with Bertie’s mom, who is foreshadowed to be a hard-ass:

Cora’s in a warm silvery lace with lots of layers.

Lovely back cape-y drape!

Bertie’s mom is very 1910s in her long brown silk charmeuse dress with beaded black sheer tunic on top.

Bertie’s mom has a lovely comb in her hair.

Edith’s going for subtle in her beaded steel blue dress.

Back at the Abbey, Carson’s got the shakes, and it’s interfering with dinner:

Cora is the epitome of “mother of the bride” here. And who are these guests? Some of them have interesting hats.

Love the way the feathers are trimmed on Cora’s hat.

Carson’s got the shakes again! Mary notices.

Gold green geometric, this dress has a lot going on.

The Dowager Countess will exit this series wearing 1910s, and she doesn’t care if the rest of you are living in 1925.

This feels like only the second time we’ve seen Denker and Sprat out of their working clothes.

‘Should old acquaintance be forgot…’

This mauve-pink dress is classic Rose, all grown up.

Lady Editor and Tom, making a match.

Edith’s ‘going-away’ outfit is simple, but the fur collar and cuffs add an extra-lux touch.

Bertie’s mother makes nice in the end.

And Edith leaves for her happy ending … and her CASTLE.

Meanwhile, Anna had her baby in Mary’s room. Looking unnaturally pristine and clean, but yay for them.

Thus ends six seasons of Downton Abbey. We had all the feels when we watched it, how about you? Listen to us analyze the episode and the whole series’ impact on historical costume TV in the podcast recap!

Mary’s last dress was assuit. (Confirmed by a dealer friend who has sold me assuit pieces in the past and knows my minor obsession.) There was much squealing over it last night (my poor husband was trying to WATCH THE SHOW while I did clothing play-by-play – he’s a patient man), and on looking at your screen grabs, the “Random Extra Lady” at the engagement dinner may be as well.

Another reason to visit magnificent Alnwick castle: the village hotel is lavishly decorated with salvaged paneling and stained windows from the grand stairs and first class lounge on the RMS Olympic! (Titanic’s twin-sister.) How cool is that?

ROFL, it wasn’t MARY trying to steal any thunder, it was “Oh right I’m married to you now” Henry who apparently thought when Mary said “AFTER the wedding”, she meant “When Edith’s walking down the aisle is close enough.” I mean, I get it, dude, you are basically totally forgotten (I can see it, Henry and Editor Chick eventually run off together so Tom and Mary can be with their first loves, Cars and Downton) but what part of NOT TODAY wasn’t clear? He just felt shoved in through the whole episode.

And I was definitely not midroad on Edith’s wedding dress, maybe it’s just my lace addiction but I thought she got the best one of the show. Okay, or a tie with Rose’s long formal one. Both neatly dodged the teens-and-twenties frumpy bedsheet look (I loathe my great-grandmother’s wedding picture from 1916 and agreed with the Royal Weddings show on ovation about how the Queen Mother’s dress was both very fashionable for the time and hideously frumpy.) Mary hadn’t gone full pudding (hard when you’re rapier-thin but her dress was just kind of…here’s a white rectangle), but hers was very dull and Edith’s wedding-that-wasn’t was pretty, ish, I guess. She got the best headpiece, too.

Downton ended here in the UK at Christmas, and I’ve been waiting for it to air in America just so I could read your recap! Great job covering a really long episode, and yes, I agree that the hats this episode had some pretty fab ribbons and details!

Was it just me or did the whole Daisy hair cut thing remind you of the story, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair.” I loved Edith’s wedding gown, it reminds me of the one my great-grandmother wore for her second wedding. I was kind of hoping that the Dowager Countess would have pulled a knot in Mary’s tail about what happened with Edith and Bertie but that was just me.

Re Lady Violet calling Mary to the carpet Re Edith and Bertie, Tom made her feel small and she was at the time believing she would have to give up Henry bcoz his racing. Besides remember that it was Edith who exposed Mary’s indiscretion with Mr Pamuk. Both were in the wrong, but Edith wasn’t yelled at by family members.

Another point I loved wardrobe-wise was how Lady Rose’s clothes were more mature, gorgy still, but Ms Robbins took into consideration her marriage and birth of Victoria Rachel Cora Aldridge. Rose also seems to be a Fortuny lover. The teal silk velvet coat she wore upon arrival screams Fortuny. *love*

I’m quite certain that in daytime dress, a lady’s hat was not something taken off when she went indoors for a visit. So for instance when a lady came to call, she kept her hat on although she took off her coat. And if a lady dined in an hotel or a restaurant during the day (say teatime or luncheon) the hat remained on. I’m not sure when that changed, but not by the 1920s certainly. The hat after all is not for warmth – it is for fashion.